Ranasinghe won the best schoolboy cricketer award during the 1974-75 cricketing season when he first played cricket for Nalanda College Colombo.

He made his debut for the side in the 1975 World Cup, where he played all three matches for Sri Lanka, scoring a total of 19 runs in three innings and conceding 65 runs from ten overs.

Ranasinghe's poor performances meant that he was not considered for the 1979 World Cup, nor the inaugural Test match where England played against Sri Lanka. He did play in two ODIs against England, but his fortunes were the reverse of Sri Lanka's - in the first ODI, he scored a quickfire 51, but was caught by Geoff Cook just as Sri Lanka needed to up the run rate to chase England's total. They finished six runs short of victory. In the second, Ranasinghe recorded a duck, and yet Sri Lanka won by three runs - although his nine economical overs, conceding only 37 runs, had some say in the win.

His ODI performances may have played a part into his call-up for the 1981-82 tour of Pakistan. He didn't play the first Test, but came in for Ravi Ratnayeke in the second, the selectors wanting to bolster the batting. Despite the Sri Lankans doing well, Ranasinghe contributed little, scoring only eleven runs in two innings and bowling twelve overs for 40 runs - also taking the wicket of wicket-keeper Ashraf Ali.

He was dropped again for the third Test, but returned a year later, for Sri Lanka's 1982-83 tour of India. His first innings was another disappointment, as he was dismissed for a duck, but a rearguard 77 against Kapil Dev and Dilip Doshi ensured that Sri Lanka could draw the match. That was his last international game of cricket, however, as the South Africa tour meant that his career was curtailed.

Ban

Ranasinghe's career, however, was cut short by deciding to tour South Africa in 1982-83, which resulted in him getting a 25-year ban from all cricket.

Following his return to Sri Lanka after the South African tour, Ranasinghe found it difficult to find employment and turned to alcohol to cope with depression.

Ranasinghe died in Colombo, aged 42.

Nalanda Junior Old Boys Association (NJOBA) organizes Old Ananda Nalanda Test Cricketers' Limited Over Encounter and it is named after Anura Ranasinghe.